Monday, December 28, 2015

Sunday we headed back to the city to see Star Wars The Force Awakens (in IMAX) with SeanYoda's mom. I managed a few photos from our day before my phone battery died again..
St Patrick's across the street from the Metreon.

After lunch at the nearby Mel's, we took a sightseeing tour of the city from the Zipcar... I was awake for the Great Highway/ Ocean Beach portion:

Ocean Beach

Golden Gate Park with Windmill..

Sutro Tower as seen from the Great Highway.

We hit up the Public Library for a bit where I was able to pick up my hold books before we ran out of time, as well check out the installations on the PPIE and the WWII in the Philippines.

The sun was setting as we headed back to the EastBay..
pretty pink and rose sky..

Thursday, December 24, 2015

This is my 2nd attempt at making these.. the first didn't come out near as good (more like brownie brittle.) Recipe calls for 1 cup flour & 1 cup sugar, a cube of butter, 1 egg, and 1/4 tsp of baking soda.. and finally 2 tblsp. of instant coffee.

Cookies still came out flat (despite putting batter in the fridge for a few hours) but at least they taste alright.

Pumpkin Spice Bread..

Usually I use a Krusteaz mix from Costco, but SeanYoda brought home a different mix*.. This one doesn't seem to have nuts.. It didn't rise as much as I expected, and I haven't tried it yet.. (don't plan to until my second loaf is finished baking..) You can make a cream cheese frosting for it but I usually serve it without anything. People can put butter or maybe a fruit spread on it if they want, I suppose.

I'll bring these to Christmas Dinner at Sean's older brother's place in the city..

Friday, December 18, 2015

Shiba Ramen was still soft opening its location in the Emeryville Public Market as we stopped in on a rainy Friday night.

By the time we showed up they were down to only a couple servings of ramen and sides. We were able to get an order of Miso Ramen and an order of gyoza and their Shiba Wings..

the gyoza was gyoza.. very lightly fried and tasty but you know, it's gyoza.. serving was perfect for sharing.

now for the most amazing thing we had.. the Shiba Wings:
What you can't tell from the photo is the light honey sprinkled goodness.. and when you bite into the wings, OMGz the juiciness! So good.. I was suggesting we get a couple order of these whenever possible just to take home.

As it was they closed while we were eating as they had sold out of EVERYTHING! (not surprising!)

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Something's coming soon..
As seen on my way home from school.. The neon beckoned to me, as it does.. and of course once you stop, you'll notice that SW: The Force Awakens can be seen in downtown Berkeley,(just in case you needed to know another place it was showing.) ;)

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Today was the annual Heyday Books holiday sale.. I think this might be a regular thing for me (what with attending 2 years in a row now!) and since they publish some really great books, whatever you get will be a good choice. SeanYoda went with me, thinking that he'd keep me from over-shopping, but he found some titles he wanted too.. Suffice to say I walked home with a nice haul of books to read in the new year..

I went specifically to pick up a copy of LAtitudes and So Far From Home: Russians in Early California but as you can tell, I ended up with a lot more to add to my little home library of California interests! I'm especially happy to finally have my own copy of All of Us or None as I have really enjoyed reading all of Lincoln Cushing's poster art books previously, including this one.)